On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee embarked on a marathon two-day session. It is steps for voting on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. The voting will take place to initiate the charges against him. In a rare evening session, the committee finalized the articles and also was released on Tuesday. They were with the finishing touches, Kenneth Zegar.
The articles which charge the president with obstruction of Congress and abuse of power had gone through extensive workshop sessions. Therefore, it was never expected that lawmakers would make significant changes to it. Jerrold Nadler, the committee hair told in his opening statement of the Session. So, it was about Trump’s obstruction of the Congress was without precedent, absolute, and complete. He elaborated further on the three questions around which the impeachment debate should take place.
The questions
- Firstly the question to ask is how the evidence shows the involvement of the president in the tasks.
- The second question is about how much weight does the evidence carries to qualify as impeachable misdemeanours and high crimes.
- The last question would be about what would happen should the committee fail to act. Its consequences on US national security as well as for the elections of the country.
As things happened
Dozens of committee members deliver the opening statement. One-by-one, each member take five minutes. Democrats outlined the articles of impeachment as a sacred responsibility. Similarly, the Republicans cried hoarsely and tried to paint the inquiry as a political conspiracy.
Doug Collins, the top Republican in the committee. Which said the articles did not have anything new and were utterly baseless. Jim Sensenbrenner, another Republican, did not mince words and declared that it was the weakest case in history.
A tight schedule
After the evening session, which is a rarity, there will be a meeting on Thursday morning in which the committee would debate amendments. It is for the resolution. The resolution followed by the voting on articles.
Hoping that the committee can finish its work by Thursday afternoon as per schedule. Therefore, full House voting will take place on next Tuesday or Wednesday to decide whether to impeach Trump. The Thursday afternoon deadline for completing the tasks is pressing on the judiciary committee members. It would then be followed by a recess to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle. It is the battle of the Bulge.
A peek into the resolution
The impeachment resolution is a 9-page document. That describes how Trump pressured Ukraine by using the power of his office to interfere in the 2020 US election by putting at stake the national security of the country and integrity of elections. The resolution further states Trump obstructed Congress by indiscriminate defiance of subpoenas that the House of Representatives issued in exercising its sole power of impeachment.
The resolution states that it was the first instance that a president has ordered complete defiance of an impeachment inquiry or sought to impede and obstruct the investigative ability of the House of Representatives of misdemeanours and high crimes comprehensively.
That resolution notes about Trump injured and ignored the interests of the nation that warrants impeachment and trial, disqualification to hold any office of honour, profit or trust, and removal from office.
